


Left 4 Dead 2 Ficlets

by cautiousArdent



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Established Relationship, Ficlets, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, all of these are relevant at some point I swear, implied one-sided, major character death only comes up in the last two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-14
Updated: 2013-04-13
Packaged: 2017-12-08 10:27:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cautiousArdent/pseuds/cautiousArdent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bunch of ficlets I've written over the past year. Some have an implied relationship, some have implied one-sided, and one or two are established relationships. All of them are about Nick's somewhat character development. Some are long, while the others are short. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Nick hates graffiti, doesn't let his teamates know he's injured, and Ellis is glad the Apocalypse happened.

**Author's Note:**

> All of these ficlets of various sizes have been written in the past year. Just as a warning: I did write most of these in the second person. Not only did I think most of them are more compelling with second person, I also wanted to have the feel of you, yourself, as the reader, actually inside the game as Nick (or Ellis). It also just happened this way, but after I reread some of them, I don't think I could ever rewrite them in third or first person. (The first one is in third person, however.)

**The Only Good Carrier ...**

He normally didn’t pay attention to the graffiti on the walls, but this one struck him hard. He tried to ignore it and to simply move on, but it continued to show up along the way to where they wanted to go.  
‘THE ONLY GOOD CARRIER IS A _DEAD_ CARRIER’  
It disturbed him. It got to the point where, whenever he would see it, he would grit his teeth and curse. It took all he could to ignore it. At some point, he made it his goal to not let the others see.  
Finally, he had enough. He made it his unspoken resolve to get himself and the others out of this mess. He did all he could to help his fellow teammates, something he loathed to do in the very beginning. He had changed beyond that now, however, and decided that all four of them were going to get out alive. Despite this idiotic message everywhere that haunted even his dreams.  
When it got to the end of their journey, he didn’t care anymore. He made careless mistakes that even Ellis noticed. No one said anything and only knew the others were thinking the same thing by their glances.  
They only had to run over a destroyed bridge to get to the helicopter that was going to get them out.  
“Get on the copter!” he was yelling before he even got on himself. He had made sure they were on before he did so. He had to make sure they were safe, too.  
So when he found out what was going to happen to them after they went with CEDA, he was beyond pissed. He near went crazy.  
They locked the four of them in separate cells.  
He held his head in his hands as the saying repeated over and over again in his head.  
‘THE ONLY GOOD CARRIER IS A DEAD CARRIER THE ONLY GOOD CARRIER IS A DEAD CARRIER THE ONLY GOOD CARRIER IS A DEAD CARRIER.’  
“Fuck.”

 

**Don't Look**

You turn your back to the others for a quick moment as you take some pain pills discreetly. You feel a hand on your shoulder and turn your head to glance at Ellis.  
“You okay, Nick?” he asks with a worried look. A look you sometimes wish he didn’t give you.  
“Yup, I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me,” you respond. It’s times like these where you wish he didn’t wear a hat. You could pat his head to show him that you’ll be fine. But all you can do is reload your gun in silence. You can tell he’s still watching you closely, though, and you sigh to yourself as your team presses on.

 

**Glad About the Apocalypse**

Your name is Ellis and it is after the zombie apocalypse. Though you are usually an optimist, sometimes you get caught up in thinking about why it happened.  
But then you sit there with a smile on your face because you are reminded that you met your three best friends that way. Ro still checks in on you at least once a month, and Coach calls every once in a while to chat. Let’s not forget your boyfriend, either. Nick and you meet up at least once a day and are trying to figure out when you’ll move in with him.  
So even if the apocalypse almost killed you, and you were actually quite scared throughout some of it, you don’t think it was a bad thing at all.  
And you don’t think you’d change a thing.  
Your name is Ellis and you are honestly glad the apocalypse happened.

 

 **Whisper** (A 3 Sentence Prompt Challenge)

“Hasn’t anyone told you that kindness hurts?”  
“What’d ya say, Nick?”  
“No, nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After always seeing "The only good carrier" graffiti so many times, and my headcanon that CEDA locks them up at the end, I decided to write "The Only Good Carrier."
> 
> I forgot my prompts for the next two, but I got the last prompt from a generator. There you have it!


	2. In Which Nick Nearly Dies and He Obtains Something Called Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two more ficlets! Hope you like them.

**Sacrifice**

You take up the rear of the team as you run towards a small alleyway that apparently leads you to the next safe house. You finish off one of the zombies running towards you and accidentally back into Rochelle.  
“Hey, watch it!” she hisses at you as you help her from stumbling. You raise an eyebrow before you hear a crying sound.  
A witch.  
“I’m sorry, okay?” you whisper back as you straighten out a bit. She nods at you and peers down the alley again. The other two seemed about as stumped as you and Rochelle were about getting past the powerful zombie that reminded you of your ex-wife, and the four of you just stood there in silence for quite a while.  
You sigh as you walk slowly forward. You stop as a hand rests in front of you.  
“Coach. Move,” is all you say.  
“I’m not about to let anyone sacrifice themselves,” he responds. You see Ellis nodding in the corner of your eye.  
“He’s right, Nick, maybe there’s another wa-”  
“What way then,” you interrupt Rochelle. You point your thumb to the right. “To the right of us there’s a large fence.” You point in the opposite direction with your forefinger as you continue, “We came from the left,” you point once more behind you, again with your thumb, “and all the buildings behind us are locked. There’s nowhere else to go but forward, and there’s a fucking witch blocking us. Do you see any other alternatives?”  
There was silence for a while before you mumble, “I don’t want one of you to go, either.”  
“But Nick,” Ellis cuts in, “She’s capable of knocking someone down with one hit!”  
“Then you’ll just have to help me back up,” you say as you smirk at him.  
“But what … what if-”  
“Leave the ‘what ifs’ and pessimism to me,” you tell them, still smirking. You look at their worried faces before you continue, “But if I die, you’re gonna miss me.”  
“You shouldn’t even joke about something like this,” you hear Ellis whisper. You close your eyes and frown again. After a moment, you walk in front of the three of them and tell them to get back a little further. You hear their footsteps as they do so. You proceed with your plan of startling the witch and run for it while shooting at her. The others assist you, and just as you were about to reload, she incapacitates you close to your teammates. You let out a short yell, but you continue to shoot her. The four of you finally kill her and Ellis helps you up.  
“You alright, Nick?” he asks as you let him take your hand.  
“I’ll be fine, just help me up,” you say with a tired chuckle.  
“Alright, here you go now,” he says as he helps you back up onto your feet.  
“Thanks,” you say as you flash him a genuine smile before you let him patch you up. You make a big deal about it, though, since you have your own health kit, but he was very adamant about helping you, so you finally let him. When he was done, you give him a playful punch in the shoulder as thanks before you continue down the alleyway. You hear the quickened footsteps of the younger man as he catches up with you while the other two take the back. 

****Even A Man Like Me** **

Your name is Nicolas, and it has been more than four months since you have gotten to know the three people you met in this hell hole. You are surprisingly glad you stuck with them; you don’t think you could have gotten this far without their help. Of course, you would never verbally admit it, but things do weigh on your mind a lot of the time. When you try to sleep at night, your thoughts keep you up as you think about where you would be if you really did leave them behind, and where they would be. You think what would have happened, but you also think about what will happen.  
There is one thing you dislike, however. And that would be how far you’ve fallen in love with one of your teammates. He’s obnoxious and annoying most of the time, sure, but you’ve come to realize that’s a part of him, too. You’ve observed him well enough to note that he probably is the least selfish of all of you, and that’s what makes him special, in your opinion. He always talks about “we” and “us” and being a team. “Someone might need this,” he has said while picking up a med kit or a bottle of pills. He doesn’t think of just himself.  
And that’s one of the things you envy about him, too.  
You’ve come to regret saying hurtful things to him, even if they were a joke at some points. You might never be able to apologize to him, and that makes you angry at yourself.  
Of course, you would never admit this to anyone, even if someone pressed you about these issues. You’re a master at hiding your true feelings – or so you’d like to think – and that isn’t about to change.  
“Earth to Niiick,” you hear Rochelle say and you snap out of your trance. “Jeez, what were you thinking about at a time like this? We need to hurry to the safe room!”  
“Right,” you say, blinking at her. She sighs.  
Suddenly, you hear a Smoker cough in the distance. The four of you look around.  
“Careful, there’s a Smoker,” Coach says.  
You were going to say something sarcastic, but instead, you say, “Man, this one’s really hidden.”  
You watch as Ellis takes a few steps away from the circle the four of you made. You notice that his back is hunched, as if he were bracing for an attack. Coach walks the opposite way. You’re sure it’s not in that direction, but you don’t say anything, since you’re watching out for Ellis right now.  
Of course, when you look right and left of him, you hear him yell as he shoots, “Found ya, you little- SHIIIIIIIT- GET IT OFF!!”  
There was also a Hunter around. Lesson learned: a Smoker’s cough can sometimes hide a Hunter’s growls.  
But of course the Smoker has to then constrict Rochelle, and Coach was just on his way back over from where he wandered off.  
“Shit, shit, shit. Hang on, I’m on my way!” you yell towards Ellis as you hear Coach shooting at the Smoker. And, again, of course, when you get over there, he gets incapacitated. You easily shove the Hunter off him and shoot him in the head.  
“Shit, come on, come on,” you say to him as you help him up, somewhat hurt by the smile he’s giving you.  
“Thanks, Nick,” he says once he’s on his feet again, but instead of leaving it at that, you silently heal him up with your med-pack. He thanks you again, and it might be your imagination, but you see a slight blush on his cheeks. You look towards the other two and Rochelle has an eyebrow raised. You look at her with a “What?” expression on her face.  
“I never really expected you to care about others, Nick,” is all she says. For some reason, that stings. A lot.  
“Even conmen, liars … well, a man like me, can have a little of what you call feeling, you know,” you whisper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sacrifice was prompted to me by a friend of mine, where she said I could either have Nick or Ellis becoming a sacrifice after finding a witch. (Of course I had to keep it a happy ending!) I decided to go with Nick, since Ellis is usually depicted as the sacrificial one. I feel like Nick grows in L4D2 near the end, and while he's still a smartass, he's more willing to stick by the other survivors.
> 
> Even A Man Like Me was written after I read A Doll's House for a class last year. There's a line in the play that's basically the same: “Even money-lenders, hacks, well, a man like me, can have a little of what you call feeling, you know.” I felt like if I changed "money-lenders" to "conmen," going with the theory that he's a former con, it'd fit Nick to a T. Especially after playing L4D2 with my aforementioned friend where Nick's apology lines came up more than once or twice in our playthroughs.


	3. In Which There Are Song Fics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These are both depressing I apologize.

**Little Lion Man**

_Weep for yourself, my man,  
You'll never be what is in your heart_

You sit on the bench right outside the nearest safe house with your head in your hands. It took you all you had to keep yourself from sobbing. You knew the dangers of this whole thing and you knew that you shouldn’t have become friends – did they even consider you their friend? – with the other three, but dammit this hurt.

_Weep Little Lion Man,  
You're not as brave as you were at the start_

You realize you should be as brave as the other two right now, but just thinking about continuing on without him was hard enough. Actually being brave in this situation would take a huge amount of courage and less sympathy than what you had right now. You glance at the direction you came in, where his body would be, and you can feel yourself starting to choke.

_Rate yourself and rake yourself,  
Take all the courage you have left_

If this happened while you were still a cold-hearted bastard, you’d probably just walk away after saying some sort of parting words, but of course it had to happen now. You had finally warmed up to the younger man – hell, if he were female, you might’ve fallen for him (hell, maybe you still did anyway). Though you still said terrible things, some of which you wish to take back, but you can’t do that now.

_Wasted on fixing all the problems  
That you made in your own head_

You go through the fight again in your head, trying to figure out if you could have done anything to stop it. Maybe if you kept an eye on him more often. Maybe if you actually heard his cry for help amongst all of the noise around you.

_But it was not your fault but mine  
And it was your heart on the line_

But of course not, that would only happen in a perfect setting. Besides, it was your fault that he was killed. You were the one that came up with the plan.

_I really fucked it up this time Didn't I, my dear? Didn't I, my..._

You really fucked everything up. Now it was just the three of you and you’re not even sure if you can go on now. You were the one that screwed it up and now you had to pay for it.

_Tremble for yourself, my man,  
You know that you have seen this all before_

You shake as you cry silently, images of him flashing through your mind. Then some images of other people, people who also have died in front of you, because of you. You thought by shutting your heart off to others, you would be able to overcome the sadness and fear of losing someone because of your stupid-ass mistakes.

_Tremble Little Lion Man,  
You'll never settle any of your scores_

You look down, staring at the gun you threw on the ground before sitting on the bench. You start to wish there were more zombies around to take your anger out on. You curse quietly as you kick it away with your foot.

_Your grace is wasted in your face, Your boldness stands alone among the wreck Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck_

You grit your teeth and scowl. If you were Coach or Rochelle, you would probably praise yourself for continuing on until you got to the safe house. However, you couldn’t.

_But it was not your fault but mine  
And it was your heart on the line_

You couldn’t save that damn idiot. No, you just downright **didn’t** save him. You didn’t help him; you didn’t do anything.

_I really fucked it up this time Didn't I, my dear? Didn't I, my dear?_

You think about your past and how you pretty much fucked up your life, but you shake your head at the thought. You only ever fucked something up this much one other time. You finally let all your frustrations out as you jump up and scream at the sky.

When you finish with your outburst, you slump back down in the bench and weep again. When you finally feel like you can’t cry anymore, you stare in his direction again. You whisper,  
“But it was not your fault but mine  
And it was your heart on the line  
I really fucked it up this time  
Didn't I?”

_Didn't I, my dear?_

 

**Get Out Alive**

Your name is Ellis and right now, at this point, you are scared for your life and the lives of your other teammates. None of you have health kits or defibrillator units, only two of you have pain pills, and you were all injured. You didn’t know how far the safe room was away from you, either. You grit your teeth. You wonder if this was how Keith felt with his many injuries.

“We’ll be alright y’all, let’s keep moving!” Coach said, in an attempt to encourage you. You nod and smile weakly, watching as the others hobbled towards where the signs pointed to the safe room.

“Hey, I think we’re almost there!” you say as you lead the others through an alleyway. You listen to the tired footsteps of your teammates as you continue to walk.

Suddenly, you hear the crying of a Witch. You let out an exasperated sigh as you scrunch up your face. You bite your lip and look towards the other three.

Nick straightens up and walks past you. All you can do is watch him, your mouth opening and closing. You wanted to say something, say, “Wait, we should try to get past her first!” Except all that came out of your mouth was an inaudible grunt. Of course, once your body let you scream at the older man, he had already startled the Witch. He became incapacitated, and the other three of you almost hysterically shoot at the over-powered female zombie.

“Shit, shit, let’s get you up, man,” you say to Nick as you kneel down to help him up once she was dead.

All he does is shake his head at you. You stare at him, obviously with a confused look on your face. He gives you a little smirk.

_No time for goodbye he said  
As he faded away_

Your eyes start to well up with tears, and he actually lets you hold his hand. Rochelle and Coach kneel beside the both of you as well, worried looks on their faces.

_Don't put your life in someone's hands  
They're bound to steal it away_

“Take my pills,” he tells you, and you let out a single, sad laugh as he squeezes your hand. He’s still commanding you, even in this situation. You do so with your free hand, stuffing them in your pocket. Even though they were just pills, they were now the most precious thing to you on the planet.

_Don't hide your mistakes  
'Cause they'll find you, burn you_

“Hey, you all know I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting, right?” he asks, tiredly. The tears in your eyes start to fall down your cheeks as you nod towards him.

You hear Rochelle choke out a, “Yeah, Nick, we know,” as she cries softly, and Coach says, “We know, Nicolas, we know.” You can barely see the other man through your tears, but you swear he was had tears in his eyes, too, even just a little.

_Then he said If you want to get out alive Run for your life If you want to get out alive Run for your life_

__The three of you stay until his last moments, silently wiping your eyes before continuing. You swear under your breath and suddenly feel a rush of loneliness. You just grit your teeth and continue forward._ _

__There was silence as the three of you pressed on, limping your way to the safe house. Not only did none of you believe that Nick would sacrifice himself for the team, but you can’t believe he was no longer here. You shake your head as you start to feel tears in your eyes again._ _

__That’s when the Tank came out of nowhere._ _

__“Oh, shit, TANK!!” you yell as the three of you shoot at it. You run backwards, trying to dodge all of his attacks._ _

__Then Rochelle became incapacitated._ _

__You scream at her, though it was in vein. The Tank dies just as he started running towards Coach, furrowing his eyebrows, not understanding why it wouldn’t die any earlier. The two of you then run over towards her, who just shakes her head._ _

_This is my last time she said As she faded away_

__“Now I know how he felt,” she whispers to the two of you. You shake your head, not willing to look at her._ _

_It's hard to imagine But one day you'll end up like me_

__You notice from the corner of your eye that she is smiling weakly towards the two of you. She goes to reach for you._ _

_Then she said If you want to get out alive Run for your life If you want to get out alive Run for your life_

__But when you look back towards her, she’s gone._ _

__“You be good, Rochelle,” you whisper to her. You sense that ping of loneliness again as you get on your feet. Coach stands up as well, silent. You look towards him, but he still doesn’t say a word. You bring an arm around your middle._ _

_If you want to get out alive (If you want to get out alive) Run for your life (Life) If you want to get out alive (If you want to get out alive) Run for your life_

__“Alright, young’n, it’s you and me now,” Coach finally says after a few minutes of silence. You nod. “We need to keep moving.”_ _

__“R-right,” is the only thing you can choke out. The two of you stand around for a few moments before you walk towards the safe house again._ _

_If I stay it won't be long 'Til I'm burning on the inside If I go I can only hope That I’ll make it to the other side_

__After this moment, things just flash before your eyes. The two of you take your pills, but Coach gets pounced on by a Hunter. You punch the zombie off of him just in time and he stands up. The two of you ignore the pain you’re both in and run until you can finally see the safe house door. It’s quite a bittersweet moment, since you lost both Nick and Rochelle, but the two of you got there safely after all that pain._ _

__Or so you thought._ _

__You hear Coach yell as a Charger bashes him into a wall. You hobble your way over to him, shouting at him as you push away the zombies away from you._ _

_If you want to get out alive Run for your life If you want to get out alive Run for ..._

__When you get over there, you kill the Charger before you take out your crowbar and kill the zombies surrounding you and Coach._ _

__“You better not shake your head at me,” you tell him, and even you can hear the anxiety in your voice. He just lets out a tired laugh._ _

“If you help me, I don’t know how much use I’ll be once I’m back up,” he says to you as he turns his head. All you can do is stare at him with a sad look in your eyes. He rests his head upward to look at the sky again. 

_If you want to get out alive (If you want to get out alive) Whoa-oh, run for your life If you want to get out alive (If you want to get out alive) Whoa-oh, run for..._

__“Hurry to the safe house, y’all will be alright there,” he tells you after a bit of silence. You shake your head, but when you hear the yell of a Hunter, you give him one last look before you book it towards the safe house._ _

_If I stay, it won't be long 'Til I'm burning on the inside If I go I can only hope That I make it to the other side If I stay, it won't be long 'Til I'm burning on the inside If I go, and if I go_

__And you instantly regret it. You left all three of your friends behind. You feel like the worst human being, even though they were the ones to tell you to run, to get out alive._ _

__You sit in the corner of the safe room, hugging your knees to your chest. And all you can do is cry._ _

_Burning on the inside Burning on the inside Burning on the inside_

__. . . . ._ _

__**Alternate ending!:** _ _

__You fall asleep with your head on your knees and a tear-stained face. You dream about your friends, and when you wake up, you feel very lonely again. Your body shakes as you try to hold back any more tears, closing your eyes. That’s when you feel a hand on your shoulder._ _

__You jump. You thought you locked the door! There shouldn’t be any zombies in here!_ _

__You open your eyes and look up. Surprise flashes across your face, along with more tears, but this time they were from happiness._ _

__“Sorry to leave you like that, Sport,” Nick says as you launch yourself into his arms. He gives out a chuckle before you awkwardly let go. You look around at the other two, smiling through your tears._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons and "Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace. They're great songs; I couldn't pass up writing a songfic for both of them.
> 
> Little Lion Man was also inspired by wanting to write a fic about Nick losing Ellis, and a headcanon that, as a conman, he's hurt many people in his life that he cared about and wanted to fix that.  
> Also, Get Out Alive was inspired by a friend's headcanon that Ellis has a fear of being alone, as well as her many attempts to sacrifice herself (while playing Nick) when there's a Tank or Witch nearby. (I did write an alternate ending, though, since the game mechanics let the characters respawn after getting to the next safe house. Also because I wanted everything to okay in the end.) It's up to you if Nick, Ro, and Coach actually said the lyrics to Ellis or not.
> 
> I warned you about the depressing fics! I warned you, bro! (I told ya dog!)
> 
> I also apologize that the formatting is a little weird.


End file.
